


The Beast

by brokenmimir



Series: Swan Queen Week Summer 2016 [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Swan Queen Week Summer 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 11:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7713862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenmimir/pseuds/brokenmimir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Swan Queen Week Summer 2016, Prompt 2: Travel<br/>Emma still couldn't figure out why anyone would want to travel that way when there were perfectly serviceable cars in the world.  Or feet.  Feet were a better idea as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beast

Emma glared the beast in the eye, trying to hide her fear. She didn’t really succeed.

“Look, I don’t like you, and you don’t like me...” she began, pointing her finger at it.

In response the creature leaned forward and nuzzled against her cheek. “Actually, that means she likes you. I don’t think she dislikes anyone.”

“Well, I don’t like her,” Emma pouted.

Regina sighed. “Just get on the horse, Emma.”

Emma frowned up at the animal before carefully edging around its side. The horse turned its head, following her movements with a dull, lazy curiosity. Once she reached the side she reached up and grabbed the saddle, pulling to try and climb up. She didn’t even need the cackle of laughter from Regina to let her know that she was doing it all wrong.

“Stop, just... before you hurt the horse, get back on the ground,” Regina said.

Emma sighed, stopping her ungraceful attempts and returned to ground level, crossing her arms and glaring at the horse again. It simply lowered its head to the grass and took a bite, calmly eating like a person hadn’t just failed to climb onto its back.

“Grab the reins in your left hand – not so tight! Good. Now, put your left foot in the stirrup, and stand up on it, gripping the saddle for balance – not there! Grip... yes. That’s it. Now just swing your other leg over the saddle and sit down.”

Emma felt a burst of triumph as she finally sat on top of the horse, both feet in stirrups and both hands gripping the reins. She gulped as the horse shifted positions, gripping the reins even tighter as she tried to forget just how far away the ground had suddenly become.

Regina rode her horse right beside Emma, somehow coaxing the huge beast into walking sideways until they close enough that their knees were touching. Regina reached out placed a hand on Emma’s back, stroking it gently as she spoke softly. “Calm down. Annabelle is a very sweet, gentle horse. She won’t let you fall off if you don’t hurt her.”

“Hurt her?” Emma asked.

“Yes,” Regina said. “Horses need to be treated gently. You’re gripping the reins too hard – its hurting her mouth. You don’t want to hurt her do you?”

“No,” Emma said, relaxing her grip slightly on the reins.

“Good,” Regina said. “Now adjust your seat-”

Emma looked down, for just a moment expecting the saddle to have grown levers to change the lumbar support settings. It took Regina several minutes to carefully coax her into sitting correctly on the animal, but all too soon Regina moved away, her larger horse walking calmly towards the exit to the corral.

“Um, Regina?!” Emma called.

“Just follow me,” Regina called back.

Emma was still figuring out how to do that when her horse started walking on its own, following Regina out of the corral and into the open field. She began to relax as the animal walked slowly and deliberately, but it wasn’t long before she frowned again as it paused and began to eat some more grass.

“Um, Annabelle? We need to follow Regina. Please?”

“Press your heels to her sides,” Regina called back. “But don’t kick her! Gently does it.”

It took some effort, but eventually Emma was slowly riding the horse across the open field. The more distance they travelled the more she began to relax. She was still far too far off of the ground on top of a huge, scary beast, but maybe it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared. She got to watch Regina in her riding clothes, at least.

Eventually Regina dropped back to ride beside Emma, and despite her fears and the growing discomfort in her bottom from sitting in the saddle she couldn’t help smiling back. Regina was practically glowing with happiness, and she made riding the animal look more natural than walking. Emma sighed and swallowed the last of her many complaints, not wanting to ruin the outing for her girlfriend.

Regina chatted lightly as they rode, taking Emma’s mind off of things, until finally, almost an hour into the trip they approached a thicket of trees covering a large hill.

“This way,” Regina called, urging her horse forward and taking the lead again, directing them toward a narrow trail just visible at the base of the hill.

“Slow down!” Emma yelped, trying to urge the horse to turn, although it did most of it on its own, apparently deciding following Regina was a good idea again. Emma gulped as they entered the trees, the heavy limbs blocking out the warm summer sun and providing cool shade. She would’ve enjoying it more if there weren’t so many trees so close to her, their branches just waiting to knock her out of the saddle.

“We’re almost there,” Regina called back as she turned a bend in the trail, which had been climbing steadily upwards to the top of the hill.

Emma gulped and leaned forward slightly. “You can go uphill, right horsey?”

The horse snorted and climbed easily, following the narrow trail around the bend after Regina. Emma just had to hold on without hurting the animal as much as possible. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found Regina had stopped. She carefully pulled back on the reins, urging her own horse to a halt beside the former queen.

It was only after the horse had stopped moving that Emma finally took in their surroundings. They had reached the top of the hill, and a gap in the trees allowed them to look out across the rolling, green hills and scattered trees of the countryside. At the very edge of her vision she could just make out the stables where the horses were kept, and the manor house beyond.

It was beautiful.

“Wow,” she murmured.

Regina reached across and took Emma’s hand, squeezing it gently. “I used to ride up here when I was young, and just look out across my family’s lands. The only other person I ever brought here was Daniel.”

Emma bit her lip, all of her complaints that day sitting heavily in her stomach as she suddenly realized just how much the trip meant to Regina. She squeezed her hand and carefully leaned over, planting a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. Regina turned her head a moment later and gave her a sweet, gentle kiss on the lips.

“Thank you for coming with me,” Regina said. “I know you don’t like horses.”

“Thank you for showing me this,” Emma replied.

“I love you, Emma.”

“I love you, too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> A bit heavy handed, but sweet endings are nice sometimes.
> 
> I haven't ridden a horse in almost two decades, and that was only once. Most of my memories involve trying to get the stubborn animal to follow the group when it just wanted to eat grass.


End file.
